Considerable research within many medical research laboratories throughout the world has been directed towards developing effective non-invasive treatments for destroying and arresting the growth of both benign and malignant forms of tumors. However, none of the treatments thus far devised have demonstrated acceptable levels of tumor cell necrosis during either clinical trials or general practice in the field of oncology.
For example, one method for treating tumors that has been tried, called brachytherapy, involves first injecting microscopic clumps of the protein albumin directly into the tumor by means of a needle. A suitable quantity of radioactive phosphorous is then added through the same needle. During the first few hours, the albumin clogs the capillaries within the tumor, preventing the release of the phosphorous to other parts of the body. Since tumor cells quickly take up and use the phosphorous, its radioactivity selectively kills them without damaging normal cells in other parts of the body. By the time the capillaries become unclogged, all or most of the radioactive phosphorous has been absorbed by the cells comprising the tumor, leaving little to escape into adjacent tissue. However, this method of treatment is difficult to implement and always carries the danger of radioactive material escaping into healthy parts of the body where it might produce serious damage.
Another method for treating tumors that is currently being evaluated by medical researchers makes use of a substance called telomerase, an enzyme that tumor cells produce and require to remain alive, but which normal body cells (except for sperm) neither produce nor require. This unique property of telomerase has prompted attempts to develop a drug that will block the action of the enzyme sufficiently to either inhibit the growth of new tumor cells or cause the death of older ones. Telomerase is an example of a class of substances that are often referred to as being "tumor-specific" because they are needed and/or used by tumor cells in differentially larger amounts than by normal healthy cells of the body.
Yet another method for treating tumors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,952 issued to Robert T. Gordon (hereinafter "Gordon") which attempts to take advantage of the observed differential heat sensitivity of tumor cells and normal cells. As disclosed in Gordon, it is well known that upon elevating the temperature of tumor and normal cells, tumor cells are killed at a lower temperature than normal cells. In Gordon a method was proposed to use electromagnetic energy to elevate the temperature of tumor cells or tissues, relative to normal cells, to kill the tumor cells without seriously affecting normal cells.
Gordon suggested that, as a result of certain physical differences between normal and tumor cells and tissues, tumors exhibit different cellular and tissue resonant frequencies from normal cells and tissues. Gordon proposed that by determining the cellular resonant energy absorption frequency of tumor cells and tissues in a patient, and exposing the patient to an electromagnetic energy field having the same resonant frequency as the tumor cells or tissues, the tumor cells or tissue would absorb energy causing the intracellular temperature to differentially rise compared to the normal cells and tissues. By controlling the amount of electromagnetic energy delivered, the temperature of the tumor cells and tissues could be raised to a degree which causes their destruction while leaving normal cells unaffected.
Gordon additionally disclosed alteration of the magnetic susceptibility and resonant absorption frequencies of cell and tissue structures by injecting a magnetically excitable material, such as FeOOH, into the cell structure. The FeOOH absorbed in the cell structure could then be magnetically excited by a 450 kilohertz magnetic field to cause biophysical alterations in the cell structure. However, because the determination of the resonant frequencies of various cell and tissue structures has been difficult to obtain, and the resonant frequencies of normal cell structures are frequently too close to those of the tumorous cells to avoid harming the normal cells, the method proposed by Gordon has found little practical use to date.
Despite the wide-ranging and expensive efforts expended in researching, developing and evaluating new treatments and cures for tumors and cancers, no truly significant advances or completely satisfactory treatments have thus far been achieved.